Q: How can I write the ideal statement of the problem (SOP) for my topic?
This is my project topic: Leaders with narcissistic personality traits and toxic behaviors are more likely to engage in discriminative or abusive/toxic leadership practices - e.g., workplace bullying, employee discrimination, act hostile toward subordinates. How can I reword it to an ideal statement of the problem (Problem statement)?
A statement of a problem (SOP) describes the relevance of a real research problem, why addressing it is important, and how your research will address it.
Your work focuses on an important topic: “Leaders with narcissistic personality traits and toxic behaviours are more likely to engage in discriminative or abusive/toxic leadership practices.” To turn this into an effective SOP, you need to describe the following:
1. The Ideal Situation: This part describes how things should work in an organization—that is, the ideal qualities of leadership and what the standard goal is. For example, you can discuss how leadership should be empathetic, fair, and protect employee rights and how this can create ideal organizations and workplaces.
2. The Reality: This part describes the current issue of how narcissistic traits and toxic behaviours appear in those in leadership positions and how they can lead to abusive leadership practices. You can also mention the negative impacts on the organization and employees as a whole.
3. The Research Gap: This part identifies what is known about this topic. You can discuss previous literature or other evidence. This paragraph should end with identifying the current gap in management practices and/or research in this area.
4. Consequences of the Gap and the Present Study: In this paragraph, you should clarify why the above gap matters and how you propose to improve the current situation by addressing it—that is, the aim of your research and its resulting implications.
A few final tips:
- Use clear, concise, and formal but easy-to-understand language.
- Base your statements on theory or facts and stay away from sweeping claims.
- Make sure that the SOP answers the “So What?” question by strongly conveying the significance of your study.
- https://www.editage.com/insights/8-things-to-remember-when-writing-a-statement-of-the-problem
- https://www.editage.com/insights/the-basics-of-writing-a-statement-of-the-problem-for-your-research-proposal
- https://scientific-publishing.webshop.elsevier.com/research-process/what-problem-statement-examples/
